COMPANIES are putting their hard-earned positive brand image at risk by providing a poor service to customers looking to buy online, according to new research.

Despite advances in internet technology, a YouGov poll of adults in Wales has revealed that customers' online experiences still need to be improved.

The survey, conducted on behalf of KPMG, showed that while more than three-quarters of people described the ease and overall experience of banking or buying on-line as "generally OK", only 8% rate it as "excellent", while 9% find it only "average".

Other than the price of goods, reliable websites that were easy to use most influenced customer loyalty to a site. Some 81% of those surveyed said this was more important than knowledge of the security measures used on the site to protect personal information (9%) or association to a

well-known brand (7%).

Phil Morgan, senior manager in information risk management at KPMG's Cardiff office said, "The attractions of e-commerce are well documented: easy searching, cheaper goods, and, supposedly, the ease of visiting the bank or the shops without leaving the house.

"Yet, often customers fall away, deterred by the very issues highlighted in the re-search, of poor site design, technical problems and inadequate online service."

The overwhelming problems remain the same old bugbears, with 42% of people picking slow website response or the time it takes for transactions to be processed as their most commonly encountered problem.

Poor site design which is confusing to use, came second, garnering 21% of the votes, while 13% were put off by frequent website crashes.

The research showed that

companies only have a small window of opportunity to capture customers.

Moreover, more than half would give up trying to process a transaction on a website after only four minutes of experiencing difficulties, while only 25% would keep persevering for up to 10 minutes if they hit a technical problem.

Moreover, only 15% would actually take pains to contact a help-line, if there was one.

The survey also revealed that brand damage is also still a real issue where poor online service is concerned.

When asked if a poor experience of using a company's website would deter them from returning to the site on another occasion, 58% said that they would give the site one more try but would not return after a second poor experience.

Meanwhile 16% said they would categorically not use the site a second time, while 19% said they would continue to use the site - but only if there were no better alternatives.

Mr Morgan said, "It's surprising more companies are not deploying tools similar to those their high street businesses have used for many years - such as analysis of foot fall, conversion rates, customer behaviour and mystery shopping.

"If companies want to keep on enticing customers to spend and save with them online, they'll need to do more to make the experience one worth returning for. Companies which address the problems consumers report stand a real chance of gaining competitive advantage, so this presents a real opportunity for business large and small to attract and retain customers."